Pipes are commonly used in just about every home and commercial and government buildings to carry water. Pipes and other conduits are also used in many industries to carry other liquids and gases such as hydraulic lines in factories and in heavy equipment. Millions of miles of pipes and conduits are part of our aging infrastructure. Large pipelines carry oil over huge distances. Pipes and other conduits may become damaged or break due to fatigue, corrosion, exposure to elements and temperature differentials, as well as accidental or negligent damage (e.g. hitting or inadvertently cutting into or through the pipe), or due to any number of other circumstances, even intentional sabotage. When pipes break, the resulting damage, physical, environmental and often medical, from the water or other substances carried by the conduit, can be extensive.
Many products on the market today focus on preventing breakage or leaks from occurring. As none of these are fail-proof however, with many safety devices themselves suffering from fatigue and other factors diminishing their performance, breakages and leaks happen all the time. Sometimes the damages go into catastrophic proportions, depending on the size and scope of the leak, type of substance, infrastructure and distances involved, and how long it takes to shut off the source or otherwise stop the leak.